Little Scars
by let's give this another try
Summary: Sometimes to truly love someone, you have to see their darkest sides. One-shot. Hope you enjoy, and please review if you can!


_Author's Note: _

_Hello Everyone! So I'm still hyperventilating about last night's episode, but we'll get to that in a minute. This story actually came to me about 6:30 yesterday morning, so I hope it turned out alright because that's really early to be thinking about fanfictions-or thinking in general. ;)_

_Last night's episode was...AMAZING! I loved the way everything was set up: the therapy, the body language, the kiss-everything. It was so in character, yet the writer's still managed to convey just how much Daniel and Wilhelmina actually like each other underneath the bickering. The kiss was better than I expected. I thought for sure that Wilhelmina would've pulled away, but surprisingly enough she didn't; even when she said "What the hell was that?" it was pretty obvious that she enjoyed herself. Vanessa and Eric really are the perfect actors to play these characters, and I loved how in some scenes it looked like they were trying not to laugh. They really look like they enjoy their scenes together, and it makes their potential romance all the more believeable. Also loved how Wilhelmina was checking out Daniel at the end, and how when he stands back up he's kind of grinning at her like "You know you liked that". For me, last night's episode was perfect. I'm actually glad they didn't, as Daniel said, 'jump each other's bones', because this will give them the opportunity to develop a relationship that is ultimately more meaningful and gratifying than their previous ones. _

_Anyway, I've talked way too much. Hope you guys enjoy!_

**Little Scars**

Little scars eventually reveal themselves.

Wilhelmina knew that. She sucked in a deep breath as she looked out the window of her limousine, watching as the city flew by in a blur of lights and sounds. She was on her way to a meeting with the execs over at Donna Karan; those bastards were holding out on everyone at Mode. They had been cagey and elusive since she brought up the fact that they needed to renew their contract if they wanted any of their ads to appear in the pages of the most popular fashion magazine to come out of New York City. They always liked to pretend that it wouldn't make a difference to them whether Mode ran their stuff or not.

Yeah right. She knew they were just toying with her to enhance their public image, or whatever the hell it was they thought would look better by giving Mode a hard time.

She tapped her large dark sunglasses on her hand and rolled her eyes. She didn't really give a damn about this meeting, which was a first for her since she was usually up for anything having to do with fashion. No; this time her mind was wandering on her, and she didn't care to call it back. She knew where it was.

Daniel.

He would've come with her had he not had to show some new girl the ropes, teach her how to survive at Mode. Which wouldn't have made a difference to Wilhelmina-had the girl looked like Betty. But no, this girl was, of course, tall, blonde, thin, and young-and Wilhelmina had left one of New York's (former) biggest playboys to handle the situation while she went off to a meeting.

He had come into her office earlier that afternoon to tell her. "I'll be home late tonight, I've gotta show Katie the ropes" he'd said, pointing to the girl. She'd waved at Wilhelmina excitedly from her place in the hall, and Wilhelmina had given her a curt nod, sucked in a quick breath and replied "Fine". She tried to show no semblance of emotion, give no indication that Miss Victoria Secret bothered her, and had looked back down at her computer. As far as she could tell she'd played it off well, because Daniel had simply left without another word.

But, oh, how it bothered her.

Because she knew that she wasn't supposed to feel like this for Daniel, even though they were seeing each other; because she knew that her pride had been the reason she'd told him that, despite the fact that he came home to her place every night after a long day, their relationship was really not that big a deal to her-some lie that was.

She'd seen his scars; not the emotional ones, though she'd seen those too. No; these scars were the ones that flawed an otherwise good man. The scars that remained from his playboy past, his history of meaningless relationships, one-night stands, and the other indiscretions of his youth. He'd been surprisingly honest with her about the person he'd been not so long ago.

So why did she care about his past?

Because sometimes she had the nagging feeling that those scars could still control him, and she wondered if he didn't ever miss that life.

Daniel peered down at the street below from his office window, watching the people go by, hearing the cars honk and slip down street corners. Katie was seated behind him on his computer, completely fascinated by the company website. She wouldn't shut up, yammering on and on about how much she appreciated the opportunity to work here, how excited she was; that voice was drilling little holes in his brain. He turned around and smiled politely as she kept on talking. He walked over to the glass door that connected his and Wilhelmina's office, and stared into the dark room trying to picture her sitting at her desk, typing away at her laptop.

He couldn't believe he let her go to that meeting alone. He remembered how it had been in the past, the two of them always trying to go to meetings without the other and badmouth one another behind each other's backs. She'd been better at that than he was; she was so good at sneaking around and making him look stupid.

But he'd let her go alone tonight anyway.

Even though he'd seen her scars.

The ones that remained from the conniving bitch she used to be; that stared at him whenever they argued now, making him feel uneasy about what might come next. He always wondered if the day would come when he pushed too far and she unleashed her vengeance in full force. He felt bad for wondering that; given that he returned to her home every night, he felt the least he could do was trust her.

And he wanted to so bad, because he felt so much for her.

Which was why he let her go alone.

"One whole hour," Wilhelmina thought, feeling aggravated as she slipped into the backseat of her limo, waving goodbye to the Donna Karan people, "one whole hour they waste of my time trying to pretend they don't want their ads in Mode, and I could've been somewhere else." She threw her bag onto the empty space beside her and gritted her teeth. The car slowly turned and made its way down the busy, never-sleeping streets of New York. Eventually she saw her building come into view on the horizon, and was just about to bark at the driver to pick up the speed when she noticed that Mode was looming just outside her window. She looked up at the giant skyscraper as the car pulled to a halt, waiting for traffic to move.

"I could get out here and check on Daniel," she thought impulsively, tapping her fingers on the armrest, "I could get out, make my way to his office, and see if he's still with that girl." She squeezed her hand so tightly the leather of her gloves made a sound that sounded like it was wincing in pain.

"Looks like we're pretty backed up here" the driver chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, I got that" she snapped, turning her head back out the window. God she hated it when unimportant people spoke to her.

"Uh, do you want me to drop you here?" he asked, his eyes peering out of the chubby face that wouldn't quit staring at her through the rear view mirror.

She paused, staring up at the skyscraper. Finally, she sucked in a quick breath. "No," she said, motioning for him to redirect his attention somewhere else, "just drop me off at home."

She watched as the building disappeared from view.

Daniel breathed a deep sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him and dumped his things on the ground, walking slowly into the living room.

"You're home" came the low voice he'd come to know so well.

He looked up and saw Wilhelmina staring at him as she entered the room and seated herself on the sofa.

"Yeah; I got the new girl all ready to go for tomorrow. Took forever though" he said, taking off his jacket. He paused and looked dead in her eyes. "How did the, uh, meeting go?" he asked slowly.

She shifted uncomfortably, knowing what he must've been thinking. "Fine, it went fine. Those morons like to play cool, but they'll sign a contract just as soon as it hits the table" she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Daniel laughed quietly.

There was an awkward silence pervading the room; he stood at one end tugging at his shirt, and she sat at the other, staring at the floor. Finally she jumped to her feet and turned toward the kitchen.

"I had Marc go grab something to eat, so in case you're hungry it's sitting on the counter."

"Yeah, thanks, sounds great" he said, nodding, trying to diffuse the heaviness that hung in the air. He watched as she walked out of the room, her nightgown trailing behind her.

"Willie!" he said, just before she disappeared from view. She spun around, raising a brow at him. He swallowed heavily and stared at her for a moment.

"Thanks for trusting me" he said, looking meaningfully into her eyes. He knew she knew what he meant; he hadn't failed to see her limo earlier.

"Well…you trusted me, Daniel." For the first time in his life, he saw an overwhelming sincerity flicker across her face.

"Yeah, I do" he replied, smiling ever so slightly.

Little scars eventually reveal themselves.

Wilhelmina and Daniel knew that. But they also knew that little scars of the past need not affect the future.

*The End*


End file.
